Stamp feeding and cutting mechanism.



No. 736,329.- PATENTBD AUG. 11, 1903. M. WOODFORD. STAMP FEEDING AND CUTTING MECHANISM.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 12, 1901. RENEWED FEB. 2, 1903.-

I0 MOIQEL. Z SHEETSSHEBT 1.

Tm; wn'ms PETERS co. wowumo. WASHINGTON, u.

.No. 736,829. PATENTED AUG. 11, 1903. M. E. WOODFORD. STAMP FEEDING AND CUTTING MECHANISM.

I APPLICATION FILED JULY 12, 1901. RENEWED FEB. 2, 1903.

10 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

TNE Ncmms PETERS co. PnorD-Lvmn. WASHKNGTON. n c.

UNITED STATES Patented August 11, 1903.

PATENT OEEIcE.

MILTON E. VVOODFORD, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIAJASSIGNOR TO THE AUTOMATIC POSTAGE STAMP BOX COMPANY.-

STAMP FEEDING AND CUTTING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 736,329, dated August 11, 1903.

Application filed July 12,1901. Renewed February 2,1903. Serial No- 141,6l0. (N model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILTON E. Woonronn, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stamp Feeding and Cutting Mechanism; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being IO had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

The present invention has for its object the provision of novel means whereby stamps will be automatically fed from a roll through a 1 5 suitable opening provided in the machine and then severed from the strip at a predetermined point; furthermore, to provide novel coin-actuated mechanism that will automatically coact with the feeding mechanism.

A still further object of this invention is to construct the mechanism in such a manner that all movements will be positive in their operation and operate conjointly with one another at the proper time.

Vith the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts, to be hereinafter more fully described, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

In describing the invention in detail reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification,and wherein like numerals of reference indicate corre sponding parts throughout the several views, 5 in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved mechanism,sl1owing thecasingremovedtherefrom. Fig. 2 is alongitudinal sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing the casing in position. Fig. 3 is a similar view of Fig. 1 with the toothed feed-wheel removed therefrom and showing the mechanism in the position when it is to be tripped and to be returned to its normal position as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the guide-roller and one of the feed-wheels. Fl 5 is a transverse vertical sectional view of a portion of the casing, showing the feed-wheels in position. Fig. (5 is a perspective view of the pawl and ratchet,

showing a portion of the lever-arm.

Fig. 7

is a vertical sectional view of the lower end of the trip-arm engaging the forward portion of the lever-arm. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the knife.

In the drawings the reference numeral 1 indicates a suitable frame, to which is secured a casing 2. This casing 2 may be provided with one or more removable sides in order to gain access to the mechanism. This is not shown in the drawings, but is the construction that is in common use in this kind of machines.

The reference-numeral 3 represents a coinchute which extends at an angle and is suitably fastened to the casing 2, extending 6 5 through the same to the outer edge of the casing.

The reference-numeral 4 represents an operating-handle which extends through a suitable opening in the casing and is provided at its endwith a head 5. This operating-handle 4: is pivot-ally secured at 6 to a trip-arm 7, the latter being pivotally attached at its upper end, as shown at 8, to a bushing 9, arranged upon the inner side of the casing. A spring 10 is attached at 11 to the trip-arm 7, the other end of said spring being secured at 12 to the wall of the casing. A lug 14 is also secured to the.inner wall of the casing, which lug abuts against the side of the trip-arm, limiting the rearward movement of the same. The said trip-arm 7 carries a bifurcated end 15, in which is secured a spring-pressed dog 16, said spring-pressed dog extending below the triparm and has formed therein a slot 17, through 8 5 which extends a pin 18, arranged in and through the lower end of the trip-arm '7, said pin servin g to limit the upward-and-downward movement of said dog and serving to retain the dog within the bifurcated end of the triparm.

Guides 19 and 20 are secured to the inner face of the casing by means of screws 21, a connecting-ar1n 22 extending through said guides and is adapted to operate therein. This connecting-arm 22 carries on its forward engaging end an enlarged portion 23, said enlarged portion having an upper inclined face 24, forming a heel 25. The said connectingarm 22 is formed on its inner face with a con- IOO tracted portion 26, forming shoulders 27 and 28. The said connecting-arm 22 is also provided with a lug 29, extending upwardly, to

end of said spring being securely fastened at 32 to the inner face of the casing, and this connecting-arm 22 forms a pivotal connection at 33 with the connecting-arm 34, the other end of said connecting-arm being slotted, as shown at 35, and engages a screw 36, the head of said screw extending over the face of the said connecting-arm 34 and the body portion of the screw riding in said slot 35, this screw being rigidly attached to an eccentric 3 7, said eccentric being rotatably attached to a shaft 38, the latter being suitably journaled in the opposite walls of the casing. This shaft 38 carries toothed feeding wheels 39, these wheels being securely keyed to the shaft 38. A ratchet-Wheel 40 is also keyed to the shaft 38 and is engaged by a pawl ll, which is pivoted at 42 upon the eccentric 37. The said pawl is spring-pressed by means of a retractile spring 43, secured in the post 44, fixed to the eccentric 37.

To the enlarged portion 23 of the operatingleveris pivotally attached at 45 an arm 46, the up er end of said arm being pivoted at 47 to the coin-tray 48. This pivotal connection 47 is made of the coin-tray on the under side, near the forward end thereof. Centrally of the under face of said coin-tray a weighted locking-lever 49 is pivotallysecured, as shown at 50, the said weighted locking-lever 49 being pivotally attached at 51 to the one side of the casing and is provided with an enlarged weighted end 52, the engaging face 53 of the end of said weighted locking-lever being also slightly beveled to conform with and engage when in the locking position the heel 25 of the enlarged portion 23. Below the heretoforedescribed mechanism is arranged a cutting mechanism, which coacts with the feeding mechanism and coin-operated mechanism.

The reference-numeral 54 indicates a guide rigidly secured to the inner side of the casing in any suitable manner, through which extends a sliding rod 55. This sliding rod is provided with suitable stops 56 and 57, arranged on each side of the guide upon the sliding rod. This sliding rod is likewise formed with acut-away portion 58, forming shoulders 59 and 60. Swiveled arm 61 is pivoted securely at 62 to the inner wall of the casing, having arms extending upwardly and downwardly upon the cut-away portions 26 and 58 and at certain intervals bearing against the shoulders 27, 28, 59, and 60, as will be herein particularly explained in the operation of the device. A suitable guide is arranged on the bottom of the casing, in which is slidably arranged a knife or cutter 64. This cutter carries a bifurcated lug 65, to which is pivotally secured at 66 the end of the sliding rod 55. At the other end of said sliding rod is secured at 67 a spiral spring 68, which is secured at its other end at 69 to the front of the casing. Immediately above the knife or cutter, suitably secured to the inn er walls of the casing,

is a guide '70, said guide having formed therein slots or cut-away portions 71, into which extends the toothed feed-wheels 39, and on the oppositeside of the said guide are arranged bearings 72, having open ends 73, in which the shaft 74 is rotatably secured. carries on each end guide-wheels 75, said guide-wheels having formed therein circumferential V-shaped grooves 7 6, into which the teeth of the wheels 39 extend. The said shaft 7 4 also carries an antifriction-roller 77, which antifriction-roller is spring-pressed by means of a spring '7 8, the securing end of said spring being attached at 79 to the inner face of the guide 79. The said guide has formed therein a central opening 80, to which the ribbon of stamps 81 extend, said ribbon of stamps being fed from a reel 82, this reel being removably secured in any suitable manner in the sides of the casing.

The reference-numeral83 indicates a coinreceptacle rigidly attached in any suitable manner to the inner wall of the casing.

The reference-numeral 84 represents the coins.

85 indicates a stop for limiting the movement of the weighted lever.

The detailed operation of my improved mechanism is as follows Ve will assume that the parts are in the locked position, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The coins are dropped into the slot and are conveyed downwardly by means of the chute 3 upon a cointray 48, the latter being balanced in a manner that by the weight of the coins the weighted lever 49 will be carried downwardly, together with the coin-tray, a short distance, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the drawings, thus releasing the weighted end 52 from engagement with the heel 25, Fig. 7, of the connectingarm 22, thereby unlocking the mechanism and placing it in an operative position. The operating-handle 4 is then pressed inwardly, the spring-pressed dog 16 engaging the end of the connecting-arm and imparting a forward movement thereto. By this operation the springs 10 and 31 are expanded, and movement from the connecting-arm 22 to the connecting arm is communicated, which will impart a partial rotary movement to the eccentric 37, thereby rotating the shaft 38, carrying with it the toothed feed-wheels 39, which will engage the sides of the ribbon or tape and cause the stamps to be fed downwardly from the reel through the slotted guide a predetermined distance. Simultaneously with this operation and with the forward movement of the connecting-arm 22 the arm 46 is moved upwardly at an incline, thereby tilting the coin-tray 48 in a manner that will allow the coins 84 to be fed into the coin-receptacle 83. At the beginning of the operation with the forward movement of the connecting-arm 22 the knife or cutter 64 will be withdrawn from under the slotted guide to allow the stampsto be fed downwardlyto the proper position. This oper ation is accomplished by reason of the shoul- This shaft 7% der 28 of the connecting-arm being operated forwardly and allowing the spring 68 to contract, thereby moving the sliding rod in the guide 545 until the stop 57 is reached, which limits the movement thereof. As the connecting-arm 22 is operated forwardly the upper end of the swiveled arm 61 will ride upon the contracted portion 26 of the connecting-arm 22 until shoulder 27 is reached. At this point of the operation the spring-pressed dog 16, arranged upon the lower end of the arm 7, will disengage the operating-lever as the latter is operated forwardly and the former is describing the arc of a circle, thus causing the mechanism to trip, and by means of the spring 31 the connecting-arm is returned to its normal position. Simultaneous with this operation the cutting mechanism is operated by means of the shoulder 28 coming in contact with the upper portion of the swiveled arm 61, the lower end of the arm 61, engaging the shoulder 59 of the sliding rod, operating the knife inwardly by movement which is caused by the quick return of the mechanism after the same has been tripped. By the movement of the return of the connecting-arm the weighted end of the lever 52 will ride up on the inclined face 24 and automatically seat itself in the heel 25, thereby looking the device. Simultaneous with this operation the arm atfi and coin-tray $8 will also assume their former positions. When the operating-handle a is released, the spring 10 will return the arm 7 to its former position, the dog 16 riding over the upper inclined face of the operating-lever and will engage the ends of the lever in a manner as shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings.

It must be observed that the spring 31 is heavier than the spring 68 in order to successfully accomplish the heretofore-described operation.

I will now describe the'detailedoperation of the feed mechanism that takes place at the time of the tripping of the mechanism. As the connecting-arms 34 and 22 are returned to their normal position the eccentric 37, being rotatably secured upon the shaft 38, as heretofore described, will also return to its normal position, thereby allowing the spring pressed pawl 4:1 to engage the next ratchettooth of the ratchet-wheel 40, the latter being keyed to the shaft, thereby regulating the exact rotation of the toothed feed-wheels 39 to feed the stamp-tape the required distance, where itis to be severed from the tape. These toothedfeed-wheels,operatingin theV-shaped groove 7 6 of the wheels 7 5, will tend to firmly retain and equally feed the sides of the stamp, thereby causing a slight indentation, as shown in Fig. 5, upon the end of the tape extending through the casing of the mechanism.

The many advantages obtained by the use of my improved device will be readily apparent from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

It will be noted that various changes may be made in the details of construction without I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with the longitudinallymovable bar,a shaft and stamp wheel mounted thereon, a cam loosely journaled on said shaft, a ratchet-wheel keyed to the shaft, spring-actuated pawl pivoted 011 the cam and engaging the teeth of said ratchet-wheel, pivotal link connecting one end of said bar and cam-wheel,a pivoted bar and spring-actuated pawl carried thereby,said pawl adapted to engage the free end of the longitudinally-movable bar, and a push-rod adapted to actuate said pivoted pawl-carrying bar, as set forth.

2. In combination with the longitudinallymovable bar, having a widened portion and a seat with beveled edge, at one end a stampfeeding wheel and shaft carrying the same, a cam loosely journaled on said shaft,a ratchetwheel keyed to the shaft, a spring-actuated pawl carried by the cam and engaging the teeth of said ratchet-wheel, pivoted link connection between said bar and cam, guides for said bar and a spring for returning the same to its normal position, a pivoted bar, a spring-actuated pawl mounted in a recess in said pivoted bar and normally engaging said widened portion of the longitudinally-mow able bar and seat, and a push-rod pivoted to said pawl-carryin g bar, as set forth.

3. In combination with a longitudinallymovable and spring-actuated bar, having a widened portion and a seat with beveled edge, a shaft, stamp-feeding wheel with spurs about its circumference, mounted 011 said shaft, ratchet-wheel keyed to rotate with the shaft, cam loosely mounted on the shaft, springactuated pawl engaging said ratchet-wheel, link connection between the longitudinallymovable bar and the cam, a pivoted bar, spring-actuated pawl engaging said widened portion and seat, a PUSlbl'OCl pivoted to the pawl-carrying bar, and a stamp-cutting device actuated by said longitudinally-movable bar, as set forth.

4. In combination with the longitudinallymovable bar, the stamp-feeding wheel and mechanism as described for driving the same, a pawl-carrying bar pivoted to the casing, push-rod pivoted to said pawl-carrying bar and engaging the end of said longitudinallymovable bar, a spring-actuated bar mounted parallel to the stamp-feeding bar, a swiveled button driven by said lon gitudinally-movable bar and adapted to drive said spring-actuated shaft, and a cutting-knife pivoted to the latter.

5. In combination with the longitudinallymovable bar 2, having shoulders 27 and 28, the stamp-feedin g mechanism driven thereby, a spring-actuated bar 55 having shoulders 59 and 60 and cutting-blade pivoted thereto, a button pivoted to the casing of the apparatus and havingits free ends engaging said shouland means for operating same, the stampders, whereby said Iongitudinally-movable bar is driven forward the spring-actuated blade-carrying bar is driven in the opposite direction, and means for driving the stampfeeding shaft.

6. In combination with the casing, the sta =p feeding and severing apparatus, a 1ongitudinally-movable bar and cutting-knife feeding wheels and shaft carrying same, a cam, pivotal link connection between said cam and shaft, ratchet-wheel keyed to the shaft and spring-actuated pawl engaging the teeth of said ratchet, a standard 70 mounted on the 1 casing, ears on said standard, shaft mounted in said ears a cylindrical WIIGOI journaied on said shaft 74, and the grooved wheels 75 and 76 rotating adjacent to the circumferences of the stamp-feeding wheels, and means for operating the device, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MILTON E. IVOODFORD.

'IVitnesses LoUIs MoEsER, L. WALL. 

